


Injuries

by AeonTheDimensionalGirl



Category: Mako Mermaids
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, mimmi knows her brother is an idiot, more of a what could have been, nerissa has barely any control of her body, zac comes out quite beaten
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-20
Updated: 2018-04-20
Packaged: 2019-04-25 14:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14380413
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AeonTheDimensionalGirl/pseuds/AeonTheDimensionalGirl
Summary: Three times Zac fought the Water Dragon to defend his friends and hopefully defeat it, and all those times he left the battle with nasty scratches. And then there’s the other time he nearly lost his life… (AU)





	Injuries

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this after a conversation I had with Izi Wilson in which we discussed how much potential season ¾ had and how they threw it all down the drain. When I was watching the season, I couldn’t help but think what would have happened if Nerissa (as the Water Dragon) had actually made the mermaids and Zac fight against her on their encounters and well… this happened. Hope you enjoy.
> 
> Also, I know that it’s been confirmed that Zac and Mimmi aren’t twins, buuut, to quote Nick Fury: I recognize the council has made a decision. But given that it’s a stupid-ass decision, I have elected to ignore it.

**Encounter one: Claw Attack**

Sometimes, Zac really hated vision-sharing with Mimmi.

Don’t get him wrong, it made wonders from time to time, but on this occasion, Zac was wishing he had not discovered his merman heritage and family.

Because, let’s face it, facing a 300 hundred meter Water Dragon whose fire could take away his, Evie, Mimmi, Ondina and Weilan’s tails away before one could say ‘swim for your life’ definitely made one wish they had not gotten out of bed today.

The fact that the mermaids couldn’t use their moon rings for defense and offense was not a helping factor either.

“WE NEED TO GET OUT OF HERE!” Weilan shouted to them, despair and fear clear in her voice.

The Dragon, however, seemed to understand what she said, and before anyone could make a move, the water reptile swung its tail and attempted to crash it on Evie and Mimmi’s heads. Fortunately, both of them moved out of the way just when the tail made contact with the ocean, sending a 10 meter wave in the direction of Zac and the boat that currently hosted David and his brother, Joe.

“No” Zac whispered as they wave got nearer and nearer to the boat. Logic indicated that if the wave hit, David and Joe were as good as dead. Raising his hands, he concentrated on trying to stop the water and slowly, the wave started to miniaturize to a decent size. It crashed against the boat, making it stumble upon the water, but not sinking it. Zac let out a sigh of relief.

That’s when he heard it.

“ZAC! LOOK OUT!” Evie’s voice warned. The merman turned around just in time to see the Water Dragon looking at him and about to fire. Zac submerged onto the ocean, the creature’s blue flames missing him by the centimeter and sending chills down to his spine.

Under the water, he saw the mermaids attempting to sneak out of the Water Dragon’s presence, him soon following. He thanked Evie for the warning and attempted to ask Weilan about the strange animal they had just faced when Zac suddenly felt himself being pulled by the tail by full force. He turned around, and soon Zac realized that they were all far from safe.

He found himself staring at the reptile’s eyes. It appears to be that _‘it’_ decided to give them chase as soon as he dodged the fire.

And now _‘it’_ was grabbing Zac by the tail with its claws, which despite being made out of water, were starting to pierce painfully onto the merman’s tail and skin.

Zac struggled to get out, but the more he moved, the more the claws dug in. Blood was starting to spread out and Zac was trying his best to hold back a scream. The Dragon was taking its sweet time causing him pain before taking his tail away. The ache and blood loss was making him feel weaker and weaker. He could vaguely hear the horrified scream from his friends, sister and girlfriend.

_“Come on,”_ he forced himself to think. _“I need to get out of this”_

His left arm was out, while the right one was taking part in the claw torture.

An idea formed on his mind. Wherever or not it was brilliant or simply crazy, it sure was part of his survival instinct.

Zac concentrated on the water surrounding him and the Water Dragon. He thought about making it boil like preparing pasta. The Dragon shifted uncomfortably, but didn’t let Zac go.

The mermaids cached up to his plan fast. They all shared the same look before also putting their concentration on the water. Bubbles soon started to manifest, up to the point it looked like they had all stumbled in a Jacuzzi.

The Dragon finally could not stand the heat. It let out a roar before letting go of Zac and swimming away, soon disappearing from the scene.

Evie and Mimmi grabbed him by the arms, the later trying to be careful of the injuries from the right arm.

**“Can you swim?”** Evie asked him by the underwater telepathy. Zac moved his tail back and forth slightly, and this time he actually let out a scream. The pain extended to all of his tail and part of his torso.

**“B-barely”** he managed to whisper.

**“We need to get out of here now”** Ondina said. **“Sharks will soon start to gather around and it’s not easy to communicate with them when there’s possible food on the way”**

The rest nodded.

**“We’ll have to speed swim”** Mimmi said to Evie and Zac. She looked at her twin brother. **“Brace yourself”** she warned softly.

To make things short, it was the worst speed swim Zac ever experienced.

He spent a week wearing jeans and a jacket to cover the healing claw marks on his legs and arm.

* * *

 

**Encounter two: Tail Attack**

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

The plan did not involve Evie being with him in the moon pool.

The plan did not involve Evie getting hurt.

_The plan did not involve Evie losing her tail._

And yet, fate was cruel.

Zac was cradling his now human (again) girlfriend in his arms. Evie was unconscious, but thankfully she was breathing and hadn’t swallowed any seawater. The Dragon was looking at him strangely, almost as if _‘it’_ was waiting for something.

“What do you want?” Zac asked, looking at the creature with hate. “You took away her tail, so what are you waiting for?” he spat.

_“I’m also defenseless”_ he added in thought.

The creature leaned in, and Zac closed his eyes, preparing himself for the loss of his tail; clutching Evie to his chest as he did so, one final, yet useless attempt to protect her.

However, nothing came. A sniffing sound did come to his ears and Zac, despite himself, looked up in curiosity. The Water Dragon was just looking at him, studying the young merman. It was still up to be decided if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

Just when Zac was wondering if he could swim away with Evie without causing any disturbance with the dragon was a good idea, the sound of charging moon rings came to his attention.

He then realized in horror that it was coming from outside the moon pool. The Dragon reacted immediately: it soon left Zac alone in the pool with Evie, ready to…

Zac paled.

The mermaids. Mimmi. Ondina. They were all going to lose their tails. And then they would all die; after all, a mermaid who was never had legs and didn’t know how to swim with them was as good as dead. Weilan had explained to them that that’s how the Easter Pod had disappeared after the Water Dragon attacked them. The majority had drowned.

Zac acted fast. He laid Evie on the rock edges of the moon pool before going underwater, swimming outside the magical pool.

Once he resurfaced, the sight that met him was starting to become like Weilan’s nightmares: mermaids were swimming for their lives once they realized the Eastern mermaid was right about the dragons immunity to the moon rings; at least three to five mermaids had lost their tails, and they were either hanging for dear life on one of the rocks around Mako Island or being carried away by another mermaid towards the shore. The Dragon simply went back and forth without mercy, and each time a mermaid became human.

Zac desperately scanned the area looking for his sister and Ondina, and let out a small breath of relief once he spotted them being part of the carrying team towards the shore. He then turned his attention to the Water Dragon, anger boiling once again in his blood.

His and Weilan’s main plan may have been a total failure, but the least he could do now was distract the dragon long enough for the mermaids to escape.

“HEY!” he yelled to the Water Dragon. Even if they were almost a mile apart from each other, Zac could hear Mimmi screaming at him, “What are you doing?!”

“WE WERE HAVING QUITE A MOMENT BACK THERE!” Zac continued to yell at the creature, which had slightly focused its attention to the merman. “AND I DON’T THINK WE WERE FINISHED!” he said, soon following by throwing a _Turn the Tide_ attack to the dragon.

The effect was immediate: the Water Dragon forgot about the mermaids and Zac now had its full attention once again. The creature let out a roar and charged towards Zac, who threw another _Turn the Tide_ before diving underwater and away from the island. A splashing sound behind him confirmed that the dragon was giving chase. Remembering the mistake from last time, Zac activated his speed swim, quickly avoiding the claws this time.

He knew that the dragon’s main strength and weakness was the full moon. _‘It’_ appeared and disappeared with the moonlight after an unlimited time and Zac just hoped _‘it’_ wouldn’t last any longer.

Zac felt something hot coming near him, and he dodged to the right. A blue fireball, the size of a basket ball, went the direction he had been following.

Great. Now he was being chased _and_ being used as a target.

He changed his direction towards the northern side of Mako Island, hoping to lose the dragon in the coral reef, dodging three more fireballs along the way. Both boy and creature were now in the place Zac had intended to go. He dropped the speed swim, staying close to the rock formations that could serve as shields from the fireballs.

_“Zac…”_

Said merman barely dodged another fireball as soon as he heard that voice. It stroked a sense of familiarity on him…

He looked around, hoping to see someone else on the water, the owner of the voice. But the only thing he saw was the Water Dragon, who was squirming and clashing against… something. For a moment, he could have sworn he saw a _woman_ inside the dragon.

Zac barely had time to register what was happening when something long and thick hit him hard on the chest, sending him flying towards the rock walls, landing on the sea floor. Pain quickly found itself on his body (he was sure he now had a few damaged ribs) and he struggled to keep consciousness. From the corner of his left eye, Zac could see the dragon’s tail retreating from him. It went up again, almost to repeat the painful gesture, but then there was a flash of blue, and Zac closed his eyes.

When he opened them, the Water Dragon was gone.

Blinking; and with his mind still trying to understand what happened, Zac swam slowly towards the surface, clutching his sides as he did so. He resurfaced next to one of the mermaids who had lost their tail and has hanging by one of the rocks. Before he could offer her assistance despite his injuries, someone quickly tackled him into a hug. Zac let out a gasp of pain.

“Don’t ever do that again, you idiot” Mimmi whispered unto his ear. She let go of him, now noticing the way he was clutching his sides. “You’re hurt” she realized, a bit horrified.

“Not as much as Evie and the other mermaids, though” Zac said. Mimmi nodded, a grim look on her face as she watched Ondina take of the ex-mermaid on the rock.

“Yes, I saw. Weilan got her off the moon pool and to the shore” his sister informed him. “She’s devastated” Mimmi added.

“I know” Zac whispered.

Eighteen mermaids lost their tails that night.

Evie forgave him.

His ribs healed.

But from that night, Zac felt that he knew something that he wasn’t supposed to know.

* * *

 

**Encounter three: Arm Attack**

He should have followed Mimmi sooner.

She was his twin. Even if they knew each other for a year now, they could almost read each other perfectly. Zac knew that the moment he told her to simply forget about finding their birth mother, she was acting different.

_I’m-going-to-do-something-stupid-to-prove-you-that-I’m-right-and-you-are-wrong_ type of different.

It didn’t help that _that_ type of different was more associated with him and he had completely ignored the signs.

And now his sister was being chased by the Water Dragon, in broad daylight.

As soon as the vision that given him the warning, he ditched Ondina and Weilan after telling them a simple “Dragon, Mimmi, Danger”, and ran off towards the ocean. He soon found Mimmi and the Water Dragon in a cat and mouse chase, the reptile roaring at his sister, all a mile away from Mako Island.

**“MIMMI!”** he yelled as he swam near her and the dragon.

**“ZAC?! NO! GET OUT OF HERE!”** Mimmi yelled at him while barely dodging a fireball. The Water Dragon also took notice of the merman’s presence and let out another roar towards Zac, but didn’t make any action to attack Mimmi again. _‘It’_ simply moved its head towards one twin to the other, as if it was debating which one would be better to attack first. The Dragon’s gaze finally settled on the merman.

**“SHARK BREADING REEF! I’LL MEET YOU THERE!”** Zac yelled at Mimmi, who didn’t waste time and started speed swimming towards the western side of Mako.

The Dragon looked back at her retreating figure, and it would have resumed the chase with the mermaid if it wasn’t for shards of ice piercing its scales. The creature once again settled with Zac, whose hands were balled into fists.

**“Sorry mate, but if you want to take my sister’s tail, you’re gonna have to go through me”** said Zac, throwing a few more shards of ice before speed swimming towards the opposite direction Mimmi took.

The good thing about the shark breed area of Mako Island was that, like the coral reef, it was filled with rocks that served as shields, some underwater caves and mermaids rarely went there, even if the sharks weren’t breeding at the moment. It was a perfect place to hide and lose the Water Dragon. And this time, Zac and Mimmi had an advantage: there wasn’t any moon light, which meant that the vile reptile wouldn’t last as long as it normally did.

Zac reached the reef in record time, all while being careful to avoid the fireballs and the dragon’s claws. He caught sight of Mimmi’s tail going into hiding on one of the caves, her head popping out to see him come.

Good. Now he just needed to follow her and then wait for the Water Dragon to-

SMACK!

A sharp pain hit his lower stomach, in the exact point were his tail connected to his body. Zac could barely register that Mimmi was screaming his name when, once again, the young merman found himself being thrown against the underwater rock walls of the island. This time, he stayed on the ground, the injuries barely giving him the ability to move out of the way.

Despite the pain, Zac felt a shadow over him. He looked up, expecting to see the Water Dragon, but to his horror, it was Mimmi. She had her arms extended by her sides, serving as a shield to her twin. The Dragon didn’t make any action to attack. _‘It’_ looked just as stunted as Zac.

**“Mimmi? W-what are you doing?! Hide!”** Zac pleaded to his sister.

**“No”** she didn’t turn to look at him, **“This is my mistake, and you shouldn’t face the consequences of my actions”** she added.

Before Zac could argue back, the Water Dragon loomed over the twins. Mimmi swam closer to Zac, but didn’t drop her stance. The creature was looking at her oddly, and got closer to the mermaid. And then, to their surprise and confusion, it sniffed at Mimmi, just like it had did with Zac on the last full moon.

Then there was a flash of blue and the Water Dragon was gone.

Mimmi broke out of her stunned daze, turning to look at Zac. She grabbed him by the arms,  swimming towards the surface. Once they resurfaced, she started pulling him towards the shore, trying her best to avoid causing Zac more pain. Mimmi stopped once they reached the shoreline and crouched by Zac’s side, trying to ignore the blood to inspect the injury the creature had caused once again on her brother. It was caused by the claws again, but thankfully, this time was more minimal and the wound didn’t look very deep.

“Thank you for saving me” Mimmi said as her fingers from her left hand trailed over Zac’s damaged blue scales while her right hand stroke his hair in an attempt of comfort.

“T-thank you for de-defending me, although it- it was kind of s-stupid” Zac muttered, hissing in pain once Mimmi’s hand touched his abdomen.

“Well, you were stupid too. You were the one who basically said ‘Hey, I’m a target’ to the dragon. _For the second time_ ” Mimmi said, frowning at Zac, who refused to look at her eyes. “Zac?”

Her brother took a large, shaky breath.

“I’m sorry… it’s just that… Evie lost her tail because of me and Weilan not trusting anybody with our plan… and then, you said you wanted to try to communicate with Neri- I mean, our mother and I rebuffed you, told you it was a hopeless idea and… Mimmi, you nearly lost your tail because of me” Zac explained. Mimmi’s hand made him look at her.

“But you were right, it was a stupid idea. I was so caught up in the idea I could get our mother back and I ended summoning the dragon and… you ended getting hurt. Because of me and my foolishness” Mimmi said, stroking his cheek. “I guess it was both of our faults” she added with a sad smile, which Zac returned.

Mimmi’s face turned to look at the horizon.

“It was weird, the sniffing, I mean” Mimmi commented. “Didn’t you say it did the same to you at the moon pool?”

“Yeah and while it was chasing me, after injuring me, I could have swore I saw a woman inside the dragon” Zac said.

“I saw a woman before the dragon showed up today” Mimmi said, looking at her twin.

Silence fell upon the siblings as they processed the information.

“Mimmi” Zac called, breaking the silence. “I thought there was something weird going on with the Water Dragon and now… I think there’s more to the story that meets the eye”

“I agree with you, but… what is it?” Mimmi asked, looking at him quizzically.

Later that day, after treating Zac’s injuries and honoring Nerissa’s memory on Mako Island, both twins set up to work.

* * *

 

**Encounter four: Near Fatal**

It was Nerissa.

It was their mother.

_Their mother was alive and she was the Water Dragon._

That was…

That was just messed up. M. Night Shyamalan-movie-twist messed up.

To make the plot worse, Veridia and the rest of the mermaid council were planning on unlashing Mako Island’s true potential, and whatever that was, it meant bad news. And probable death.

Wait, death **was** bad news. Zac couldn’t really think straight at the moment, which wasn’t a good sign given that he and the mermaids were trying to figure out how to use the bracelet of Jiao Long.

“- it has to be worn by a mermaid, that’s for sure” Rita was saying as she examined the artifact.

“Hey! I could also rock that bracelet!” Zac said with mock hurt in an attempt to lift the mood in the room. It worked, as Rita, Weilan and Mimmi found it quite hard to suppress their chuckles. Ondina, on the other hand, looked unimpressed. The merman gave her a sheepish smile before turning his attention to the others.

“But really, even if it is worn by a mermaid, how do you make it work? I doubt Ms. Chadwick found it with instructions” he asked.

“It’s still an artifact created by a mermaids, which means that it works better with moon light” Rita said.

“I researched the legend surrounding the bracelet and the dragon. Some say the mermaid needed to have a strong desire in order for the bracelet to work and break the spell” Weilan added.

“What’s a stronger desire than have your family together again?” Mimmi said as she took the bracelet from Rita’s hands.

“Someone will need to distract the dragon from harming you as you try to return Nerissa back to normal” Weilan said. “She may have recognized you and Zac before, but that was when, according to you two, she had a better look at you. If it’s focused on trying to take away your tail, will never be able to bring her back”

Everyone fell silent. Mimmi turned to her brother, who had a determined look in his eyes.

Shit.

She knew that look.

“Zac, no” Mimmi said.

“I was lucky the other times” he said light-heartedly in an attempt to calm her down.

“Yes. Lucky to have gotten out alive”

“We know that she hadn’t meant to do that. It’s the curse-”

“I know that! But, Zac! You are not serving as a shield!”

“Distraction. There’s a difference”

“In theory, he’s right on that one” Weilan pointed out. Mimmi huffed in defeat, while Zac grinned in victory.

“While you two try to break the curse, Weilan and I will try to convince the council to hold off their attack” Ondina said. Weilan gave her a look of exasperation.

“You… you do realize Veridia is just as stubborn as a rock, right?” said the Chinese mermaid.

“We can stall Veridia for a bit” Ondina reassured.

Rita nodded and turned to look at the twins.

“Go, save your mother”

**MAKOMAKOMAKO**

So far, luck was not on their side.

The thunder and lightning coming from the volcano at Mako Island, where the moon pool was located, to be more exact, was not helping. Zac and Mimmi were starting to fear that Ondina and Weilan’s attempts to talk to Veridia had been completely vain.

It didn’t help either that Nerissa wasn’t cooperating.

The curse seemed to make the Water Dragon side smarter and more dangerous now that Zac and Mimmi knew the truth. It avoided all of Zac’s attempts of distracting it from his sister, who tried to all of her might to keep a safe distance from the creature and its tail-taking-fire while also trying to get close to use the bracelet. The merman had thrown everything he could think of: Ice shards, _Turn the Tide_ , boiling water balls, ice shards _and_ boiling water balls, even a mix between _Turn the Tide_ and ice shards.

Zac was starting to miss the trident to this point.

He was running out of ideas. It was obvious that the dragon was keen on fighting both twins, thus making them lose time.

“ZAC! WE NEED A NEW PLAN!” Mimmi yelled as more thunder and lightning made itself known in the sky and the Water Dragon roared. The water was also getting more and more violent: it starting to slowly morph into big and angry waves.

_“Think Blakely… the curse is making Nerissa more ferocious and if the dragon isn’t focused on one mer-twin…”_ Zac thought.

A bad idea came into his head.

Mimmi would probably kill him, but it was either that or waiting for another full moon.

“TRY CALLING OUR MOTHER!” Zac yelled. “WE KNOW SHE’S INSIDE, MAKE HER FIGHT THE CURSE!”

The mermaid started doing what she was told. And to Mimmi’s surprise, the dragon turned all of its attention to her, the reptile’s arms and tail coming out of the water, in a position that looked ready to attack. Zac dived under the water towards where Mimmi was positioned. He just hoped the dragon would react the way he had predicted it would do.

It did.

The Water Dragon, tired of hearing Mimmi’s pleas, made a movement to snatch the mermaid off the water with its claws.

Zac acted fast.

He pushed Mimmi out of the way. And now he was being clutched in the dragon’s claws once again… and also being lifted 100 meters from the air.

Zac heard Mimmi’s horrified gasp, but his attention was focused on the Water Dragon. Despite the fact that it was piercing (again) its claws on the merman’s skin and cutting short his air supply (he was getting more bruised ribs, for sure), Zac maintained eye contact with the dragon.

“M-mum…” he pleaded while seeing black spots dance in his line of vision. “Pl- please… you- you got to fig-fight it…”

A faint red glow started coming from below while at the same time the dragon loosened the grip on Zac, stopping the claws from stabbing him more and air to return for a bit to his lungs. His eyes cleared for a bit, and despite the pain, he could see, to his delight, the woman figure inside the dragon.

Zac could feel her now. He could feel his birth mother presence after eighteen years.

Mimmi’s laugh of glee reached his ears as the red glow continued to expand around the Water Dragon and the figure of the woman inside shone brighter.

All seemed to be going well…

… Until lightning struck the Water Dragon.

The electricity spread all over the creature, including the merman that was stuck in its clutches. Zac screamed as waves of pain shot all over his body. It was worse than the electricity from the Trident Stone a year ago.

Before he knew it, he was falling and hitting the water.

Zac faintly heard someone calling for him before everything faded to black.

**MAKOMAKOMAKO**

“ZAC!! MOTHER!!” Mimmi screamed as her brother and the Water Dragon sunk beneath the angry and stormy waves. She dove after them, kicking her tail as fast as she could under the water. Mimmi didn’t see her twin brother anywhere, but she _could_ barely register a figure under her, with a tail and long, flowing black hair…

_Nerissa._

The young mermaid swam faster and quickly grabbed the older mermaid by the arms, pulling both of them upwards. They broke into the surface in a matter of seconds.

“Mimmi?”

Said girl turned to look at the person next to her. Nerissa smiled softly, her eyes shining with happiness, a gesture Mimmi almost returned when she remembered her other family member.

“Zac” she said, her tone full of worry. “Where’s Zac?” she asked her mother.

Nerissa blinked.

“I thought… I thought he was here” she said. “I don’t remember much of what happened after the lightning-” she stopped, horror suddenly taking over her. “Oh, no”

Mimmi stopped looking at her, her attention turning towards her surroundings, trying to spot a blue tail or a male figure on the water.

“ZAC!” she yelled, panic slowly starting to take over her. “ZAC!”

“ZAC!” Nerissa started to call too. Both mermaids swam over the area looking for the merman.

“Mimmi!”

Ondina and Weilan surfaced, a look of expectation on their faces. Then they saw Nerissa.

“So it worked!” Weilan exclaimed.

“Yes, yes it did, but Zac… Zac’s missing” Mimmi said with panic on her voice.

“What?” Ondina asked.

“He’s missing, Ondina. He- he…” Mimmi attempted to say, but soon her voice started to break.

“I hurt him” Nerissa said grimly, with her eyes starting to get watery. “And then lightning stroke both of us” she added. The newcomers gasped.

“If that’s the case… he must be badly hurt… Zac couldn’t have gone far” Weilan said, in an attempt to reassure. “The current must have carried him somewhere…” she said, trailing off.

“You’re right. Search the island coast” Mimmi ordered.

No one objected. Weilan and Ondina went south and Mimmi and Nerissa went north. As they swam, Nerissa suddenly came to a stop, an idea coming to her.

**“Mimmi, try using your connection”** she said to her daughter.

**“How?”** the young mermaid asked.

**“Concentrate on your brother’s energy. You would feel where he is… his surroundings, his emotions could draw you towards him”** Nerissa explained.

Mimmi did as she was told. She closed her eyes and concentrated on Zac. She suddenly felt cold, and pain made itself known on her body. And yet, she continued. She felt sand on her skin…

Subconsciously, she started to swim towards the west, letting the energy guide her. Nerissa followed closely, silently hoping her son was alright.

Mimmi came to a stop once they arrived near the coast line on one of Mako Island secluded shores. Both women could see a blue fin under the water and quickly surfaced.

Mimmi gasped. Nerissa covered her mouth with her hand.

Laying on his stomach, and surrounded by crimson-red sand, was Zac.

“No…” Mimmi whispered as tears formed on her eyes.

Both mermaids didn’t hesitate: they made their way towards the merman, trying their best to ignore the blood. Nerissa tried her best to turn Zac’s body so he could be facing them, almost wished she didn’t once the action was done: Zac’s chest had four flesh wounds; his tail following with two. His back was now lying on her tail, his head on her arms. She ran her left hand over her son’s face, her finger softly away brushing his hair and the sand before trailing over his closed eyes; her own tears already falling over.

“Mother, look” Mimmi pointed out, her tone filled with hope. “He’s still breathing…” she said.

Indeed he was. Zac’s chest was rising and falling slowly, a detail both mother and daughter didn’t notice at first. A shaky laugh escaped Nerissa’s lips.

She was relieved. She didn’t kill the son she was forced to abandon.

Days later, Zac was starting to make a full recovery.


End file.
